Issue Position: Health Care

Issue Position

Where Scott Rigell Stands on Health Care Reform
In 2010, Congress passed, and the President signed into law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which I believe is an unconstitutional, poorly-written bill. It creates a government-run health care system that will further bankrupt America while threatening the coverage of those already insured. Americans are seeing skyrocketing premiums, losing the health insurance they have and like, and employers are cutting jobs, hours, and wages. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the name "Affordable" in the PPACA is a misnomer.

The PPACA contains 21 new taxes, totaling more than $1 trillion in tax increases on Americans; $493 billion of those taxes are borne by the middle-class. These taxes are to pay for new health care benefits that the government bureaucracy is showing itself ill-equipped to implement, which should come as no surprise. For example, the Obama Administration has requested nearly 2,000 additional bureaucrats at the IRS to enforce the law. Furthermore, over 20,000 pages of PPACA-related regulations have been issued which expand the size and scope of government in the lives of Americans.

One of my first votes in Congress was to repeal the health care law. By repealing this law, we will have the opportunity to focus on the challenging issues facing our health care system while implementing market based solutions. Government run health care is not the answer: addressing issues lik improved access and increased quality of care is.

However, while I support repeal of the health care law, we cannot simply go back to the status quo. That is why I am a supporter of H.R. 2300, the Empowering Patients First Act. This bill would develop a patient-centric health care system of market-based solutions centered around four main principles:

1) Access to coverage for all Americans

2) Coverage is truly owned by the Patient

3) Improve the health care delivery structure

4) Rein in out-of-control costs

Other specific health care solutions that I support include creating a uniform tax credit that individuals can use to select their own personal health insurance plan, ensuring choices for Americans with pre-existing conditions by creating high risk pools, and enacting common sense tort reform.

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